A London woman whose elderly parents are missing in Gaza has called for a medical corridor to be established to hostages being held in the territory.
Sharone Lifschitz, 52, last heard from her mother, 85, and her father 83, on October 7, when they were taken from their home in the Nir Oz kibbutz.
The couple both have complex medical needs, with her mother using an oxygen tank when she sleeps and her father taking medicine for lung disease.
Ms Lifschitz, from Walthamstow, previously told The Standard she was terrified her vulnerable parents “wouldn’t last long” without the right care.
She has since told Times Radio: "My father had high blood pressure the night before (he was taken) - can I please know if a doctor saw him?
"I think that everybody has the right to have their family looked after and to have minimal care.
"There is a humanitarian corridor which is going into Gaza but we don't have a medical corridor to the hostages.”
Saturday saw the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza open to let a trickle of desperately needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off and unleashed airstrikes in response to Hamas’ deadly attack.
Just 20 trucks were allowed in, an amount aid workers said was insufficient to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
Doctors have reported having to use sewing needles to stitch wounds, vinegar as a disinfectant and having to perform surgery on patients without anaesthesia.
Ms Lifschitz's parents are among the 222 hostages currently believed to be held in Gaza.
Hamas released two US hostages last Friday - Judith and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan.
The militants said they had released them for humanitarian reasons in an agreement with the Qatari government
Relatives of other captives welcomed the release of Judith and Natalie Ranaan, and appealed for the others to be freed.
"We call on world leaders and the international community to exert their full power in order to act for the release of all the hostages and missing," a statement said.
Israel has denied Hamas’ claims that it refused to receive two more hostages with the Raanans.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said: "We will not refer to false propaganda by Hamas.
“We will continue to act in every way to return all the kidnapped and missing people home."
Israelis are divided over how their government has responded to Hamas’ deadly attack with families desperate to see their loved ones returned home pleading for more to be done.
Some gathered to protest in Tel Aviv last Tuesday, holding signs which read “bring them home” and “prisoner exchange now”.
Israel is widely expected to launch a ground offensive with tanks and soldiers massed at the Gaza border and airstrikes stepped up – reportedly to reduce the risk to troops in the next stages.
The military said on Monday that it had struck 320 militant targets throughout Gaza over the last 24 hours
